If there’s one thing which must really piss off Bill Gates to no end, it must be the enduring popularity of Linux and other free software, as it undercuts his “if you want good software, you have to pay for it” attitude. As Linux has shown, it is indeed possible to produce good software and a good operating system, then give it away for nothing to anyone that wants to use it.

Today’s infographic comes from BlogSearchEngine and it shows the history of Linux, starting in 1971 with Richard Stallman who would go on to set up the Free Software Foundation. Later would come the operating system called MINIX and in 1989, the Finnish student Linus Torvalds wanted to upgrade MINIX and, finding he was barred from doing so, wrote his own OS called Linux. The rest, as they say, is history.

Let us know what you think of the infographic. Anything important that was left out? What is it about Linux that you love so much? What is it about Linux that you hate so much? Give us your views in the comments below.

What I love about Linux is "Value for Money". Even some of the commercial versions I have used, Lycoris, Mandriva, have more features at a quarter of the price of Windows, and I had access to 64bit OS years before Windows released theirs.
As for Mr Gates. I like him. I am probably going to be put on the "One to burn at the stake list" but he is responsible for putting the PC in every house and making it affordable, allowing me the choice to run Linux. Ballmer on the other hand, well, when I say the name out loud I always feel like I am swearing.

Mark O'Neill is a freelance journalist and bibliophile, who has been getting stuff published since 1989. For 6 years, he was the Managing Editor of MakeUseOf. Now he writes, drinks too much tea, arm-wrestles with his dog, and writes some more. You can find him on Twitter and Facebook.